R362-2-3. Definitions

  (A) The definitions below are in addition to or serve to clarify the definitions found in Sections 59-7-614, 59-10-1014, and 59-10-1106.

  (B) "Active solar thermal system" means a system of apparatus and equipment capable of intercepting and transferring incident solar thermal radiation to air or liquid by a separate apparatus to the point of storage or use. Transfer of energy to the point of storage or use must be accomplished using a mechanically powered device.

  1. Active solar thermal systems include systems that:

  a. Heat water for space heating, culinary water, recreational use (including swimming pools), and other industrial or commercial uses;

  b. Heat a liquid, contained within a closed loop system, whose transferred heat may be used for space heating, culinary water, recreational use (including swimming pools), and other industrial or commercial uses; and

  c. Heat air that is transferred to a building's conditioned space using mechanical systems such as fans or blowers either for heat or to induce air movement used for cooling.

  2. Active solar thermal systems do not include systems that use heat for evaporative cooling.

  (C) "Biomass system" means a system of apparatus and equipment for use in converting biomass material into fuel or electricity and transporting that energy by separate apparatus to the point of use or storage.

  1. Materials that may be used to produce fuel or electricity are as follows:

  a. material from a plant or tree; or

  b. other organic matter that is available on a renewable basis, including:

  i. slash and brush from forests and woodlands;

  ii. animal waste;

  iii. methane produced at landfills or as a byproduct of the treatment of wastewater residuals;

  iv. aquatic plants; and

  v. agricultural products.

  2. A biomass system does not include:

  a. A system that uses, black liquor, treated woods, or biomass from municipal solid waste other than methane produced at landfills or sewage treatment plants

  b. A system that combusts biomass for the primary purpose of producing and using heat or mechanical energy.

  3. In order to be considered a biomass system, a fuel or electricity producing system must use biomass as its primary source of energy.

  (D) "Commercial energy system" means any active solar, passive solar, geothermal electricity, direct- use geothermal, geothermal heat-pump system, wind, hydroenergy, or biomass system used to supply energy to a commercial unit or as a commercial enterprise. In the case of systems generating electricity and involving multiple but interconnected energy generation systems, a commercial energy system includes all interconnected components that:

  1. Were assembled or constructed at approximately the same time as part of a single project; and

  2. Supply electricity to a common grid interconnection point.

  This includes wind farms connecting to a single substation and biomass generating systems using multiple small generators. Such combinations of intertied generators are considered to be single energy systems for purposes of this rule.

  (E) "Commercial tax credit" means the credits defined in Subsection 59-7-614(2)(b) and Section 59-10- 1106 that provide tax credits worth 10% of the reasonable cost, up to $50,000, of a commercial energy system.

  (F) "Commercial unit" means any building or structure that a business entity uses to transact its business. For purposes of the commercial investment tax credit, an agricultural water pump and a wind turbine are each considered to be single commercial units.

  (G) "Direct use geothermal system" means a system of apparatus and equipment enabling the direct use of thermal energy, generally between 100 and 300 degree Fahrenheit, that is contained in the earth to meet energy needs, including heating a building, an industrial process, or aquaculture. Such systems generally make use of hot water or steam derived from wells bored through the earth's crust to reach areas of thermal energy. They may include systems that make use of groundwater or those that inject water into the earth for the purpose of deriving heat. They can also include systems that pump a heat exchanging fluid through a sealed, close loop system below the ground to extract heat for use above the earth's surface.

  (H) "Eligible cost" means a cost that is reasonable as defined in this rule, that is incurred for the purchase or installation of a renewable energy system, and that may be used in computing the amount of either a commercial or residential investment tax credit.

  (I) "Geothermal electricity system" means a system that uses thermal energy that flows outward from the earth as the sole source of energy for producing electricity.

  (J) "Geothermal heat pump system" means a system of apparatus and equipment enabling use of the thermal properties contained in the earth well below 100 degrees Fahrenheit to help meet heating and cooling needs of a structure. For purposes of this rule, geothermal heat pump system means a system that is thermally coupled with the ground through a heat exchange medium or using mechanical heat exchange equipment and that uses a "ground-source heat pump" technology described in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers' (ASHRAE) Applications Handbook, Chapter 32, or the Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Certified Product Directory, Page 4-8. This can include ground source heat pumps, water source heat pumps using ground water or surface water, and direct geoexchange heat pump systems.

  (K) "Grid connected" describes a system that generates electricity and is electrically connected to an electrical load that is also connected to and served by the local utility's electrical grid. To be considered grid connected, a system needs be able to serve an electrical load that is also served by the local utility.

  (L) "Heat transportation system" means all fans, vents, ducts, pipes and heat exchangers designed to move heat from a collection point to either the storage or heat use area.

  (M) "Investment tax credit" means a tax credit authorized in any of the Sections 59-7-614, 59-10- 1014, and 59-10-1106 and that is not a production tax credit.

  (N) "Loaded structure" means a part of the building that provides support to that building.

  (O) "Placed in commercial service" means the earliest point in time at which a commercial energy system:

  1. Produces or is capable of producing at its maximum potential output; and

  2. Sells all or some portion of its energy output or uses some portion its energy output for commercial activities located at the same site.

  (P) "Passive solar system" means a direct thermal system that utilizes the structure of a building and its operable components to provide for collection, storage, and distribution of heating or cooling during the appropriate times of the year by utilizing the climate resources available at the site and includes those portions and components of a building that are expressly designed and required for the collection, storage, and distribution of solar energy.

  (Q) "Production tax credit" means the credits defined in Subsections 59-7-614(2)(c) and 59-10- 1106(2)(b) that provides 0.35 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced for wind, geothermal, or biomass systems with production capacities of 660 kilowatts or greater.

  (R) "Production tax credit window" means the period during which a company is eligible to receive production tax credits for a specific commercial energy system. The window begins on the day that the system is placed in commercial service and ends 48 months after that date.

  (S) "Renewable energy system" means any of the following types of systems defined in Section 57-7- 614, 57-10-1014, and 57-10-1106:

  1. Active solar including solar thermal and photovoltaics;

  2. Biomass except for systems combusting biomass for heat;

  3. Direct-use geothermal;

  4. Geothermal electricity

  5. Geothermal heat pump;

  6. Hydroenergy;

  7. Passive solar for heating or cooling;

  8. Wind.

  (T) "Residential investment tax credit" means the credits defined in Subsection 59-7-614(2)(a) and Section 59-10-1014 that provide tax credits worth 25% of the reasonable cost up to $2,000 of a residential energy system.

  (U) "Residential unit" means any house, condominium, apartment, or similar dwelling for a person or persons, but it does not include any vehicles such as motor homes, recreational vehicles, or house boats.

  (V) "Solar PV energy system" means an active solar energy system that converts light to direct current electricity through the use of semiconducting materials and that is capable of producing electricity for use in a building by the use of an inverter to produce alternating current electricity.

  (W) "Thermal storage mass" means a structure within the conditioned space consisting of a material with high thermal capacitance or mass to provide heat to the unit at times of low or no heat collection.

  (X) "Ton" means heating and/or air conditioning capacity equivalent to 12,000 British thermal units (Btus).

  (Y) "Wind energy system" means a system of apparatus and equipment capable of intercepting and converting wind energy into mechanical or electrical energy and transferring these forms of energy by a separate apparatus to the point of use, sale, or storage.

  (Z) "Solar surface" is a building wall which faces no more than 30 degrees away from true south measured in a horizontal plane.